violet
Synopsis On their way home early one summer, Jesse and Jonas get into an argument with two youngsters, whereby Jonas gets stabbed. Jesse is the only witness of the murder. In shock, Jesse, is taken care of by his parents. They are at a loss for words. All Jesse s circle of friends, a group of young BMX riders, can come up with is questions questions Jesse is unable to answer. The group do their best to take care of him, taking him to the skate ground and to concerts. Feeling the weight of their looks, however, Jesse increasingly isolates himself to get over the loss. At nights he sneaks towards Jonas s parents house. He takes a certain amount of comfort from observing those who share his grief. When Jonas s father catches him in the act one day and gives him Jonas s old BMX as a present, Jesse gradually starts realizing what is happening to him. He realizes that a visit to the scene of the crime will be the only way to get over the loss and confront his loneliness. Minds Meet presents in coproduction with Artémis Productions, Phanta Film & Mollywood: violet A film by Bas Devos with Cesar De Sutter, Raf Walschaerts, Mira Helmer, Koen De Sutter, Fania Sorel, Brent Minne. Produced by Tomas Leyers. Coproduced by Patrick Quinet, Petra Goedings, Nicolas Karakatsanis. Cinematography by Nicolas Karakatsanis. Art direction by Jeff Otte. Edited by Dieter Diependaele. Sound Design by Boris Debackere. Rerecording Mix by Benoit Biral. Music by Deafheaven. the film tries to disarm the violence of its opening. The cruel, distant observation of a murder through a cctvmonitor, in its silence and indifference, was a necessary start. It was for me a force, a presence that demanded opposition. Not relying on a defined psychological drive, but on the tools of film, I hoped to evoke something of the isolation and powerlessness of the main character. Through observing him and his surroundings, I believe something can be seen that is harder to articulate, but that has a stronger power than the underlying violence. A belief, maybe, that people connect not in what we understand but in what we do not. Maybe here for me content and form truly converge, in not knowing why exactly things are the way they are. Finally, I would like to stress the obvious. This film is not the work of one, but of many makers. Every member of the cast and crew helped me, not in realizing my vision, but in letting me see, hear and feel things in a different way, previously unimagined. Bas Devos 2014 BE / NL DCP Colour approx. 85 min Shooting Format: ARRI Alexa, 65mm 8 perf. www.violet-film.com, info@mindsmeet.be Director's Statement The way the formal aspects of film and films materiality can dictate the content has always intrigued me. The way light and dark, noise and silence and time and space alter the meaning of what is shown is vastly enigmatic and seemingly beyond comprehension. Often I found myself moved not by what was shown but by how it reached me. I connected to certain films because, on a deeper level, I connected to the way the filmmaker saw the world. How the light wakes up a space or how the screen-space separates two people. How screentime feels like private-time or how complete silence makes me aware of my own presence, my own posture. These sensory experiences defined and refined how I perceive the medium. I love stories. I love telling them. Drawing them. But in film I felt much more attracted to something on the border of the narrative. I wanted to film windows. And lamps. And fires. The surface of things. The surface of people. Violet departs from an act of violence. It initiates a very simple narrative: a process of grief and loneliness through the eyes of a teenager. Both in form and content With the support of Flanders Audiovisual Fund, The Netherlands Film Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie- Bruxelles et de Voo and the Tax Shelter Incentive of the Federal Government of Belgium.